True Love's Kiss?
by SVUCSIWTRDOOLluver
Summary: Who would've ever thought that something as romantic and sappy as true love's kiss would have any place in Captain Jack Sparrow's world? But when he's dying of a curse that can only be cured with said kiss, he finds himself not caring. Will Gibbs be able to track down Jack's true love? And who is she anyone, the person Jack loves more than the sea? One-shot!


**I was watching 'Enchanted' with Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, and they're always talking about true love's kiss, so when I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean, I just put them together. Because honestly, who would've thought that something as flowery and fairy tale-like as that would have any place in Jack's pirate world? Well it definitely does, as you'll find out.**

**Enjoy!**

Captain Jack Sparrow was dying.

Everyone on the high seas knew it, but hardly anyone knew the reason why. He was afflicted with a curse, and he would tell no one the way to cure it, not even Mr. Gibbs.

"Jack, you are going to die unless you tell me how to save you!" Gibbs said angrily one night, sitting next to Jack's bed as he coughed and looked even paler than the night before.

"It's embarrassing, Mr. Gibbs," Jack said before he launched into another coughing fit.

"Embarrassing how, Jack? There is nothing embarrassing about not trying to save yourself when you know the cure to this damn curse, Jack, that's plain stupidity,"

Jack aimed a glare at Gibbs and then sighed, coughing a few times. "It's not worth it, you can't save me," He said to the ceiling, closing his eyes.

"And why is that, pray tell?" Gibbs said, unwilling to give up on his captain.

"Because you are not a woman," Jack exclaimed, sitting up suddenly and getting a little light-headed. "At lease I don't think you are," He added, looking at Gibbs strangely.

"You must be starving, Jack, I'll go fetch you something," Gibbs said, standing up, thinking his lack of food had gone to his head.

"And you know I'll just toss it right back up, so don't even try," Jack said dismissively, and Gibbs felt like pulling his hair out. Instead he did something unprecedented: reached down and grabbed Jack by the shoulders, all but shaking him.

"For God's sake, Jack, tell me what this damned curse is all about! I'm begging you,"

"Get off me," Jack muttered, shoving away from Gibbs.

"Jack," Gibbs sighed, and Jack shot him another glare before huffing out an irritated breath and gestured to the chair, saying,

"Sit down, Mr. Gibbs, and listen good, for this is a tale I'll only tell once,"

Gibbs immediately sat down and listened intently to Jack's story.

"After that business with Blackbeard's daughter, we were more careful in picking which treasures we went after, remember?"

"Yes, we went after smaller stuff at first,"

"Well, remember that last cave I went into before we started hunting down the big stuff?"

"Yes," Gibbs said again, and Jack's eyes turned thoughtful.

"Well, I bit off more than I could chew in that cave. Guess who showed up?"

"Neptune?" Gibbs ventured, and Jack all but rolled his eyes.

"No, you idiot, Calypso,"

"What was she doing there?"

"She knew I'd be there. She talked to me at first, and then she started yelling at me," Jack remembered her words as if it had happened yesterday…

"_Do you believe in love, Jack Sparrow?" Calypso had asked, twirling a pearl necklace between her fingers._

"_Yes, I believe in love," Jack said warily, and Calypso shook her head._

"_Not your love for the sea, I mean love for another person,"_

"_You mean like your love for Davy Jones," Jack said quietly, and Calypso whipped her head around to stare at him._

"_Yes, that kind of love," She breathed, and appeared right in front of him. "I've known you, Jack, and I know who you love,"_

"_There's no one…" Jack said, trying to shrug her words off._

"_Oh yes there is!" She thundered, and Jack took a single step backwards. "And until you admit it, you will suffer," _

"_Suffer?" Jack said, "I don't like the sound of that,"_

"_Yes, Jack, suffer. From this moment forward, you will grow ill every single day until your body grows too weak to live and you die," Calypso cursed him, and Jack hesitantly said,_

"_And how do I stop this illness?"_

"_True love's kiss, Jack. Maybe this world is the furthest thing from a fairy tale, but there is still love in this world. Acknowledge yours, or you will die. That is your curse," Calypso said, and then vanished._

"So you have to have the woman that loves you kiss you?" Gibbs said in confusion, thinking that would be easy to find.

"No, Mr. Gibbs, I have to find the woman that I truly love, that's where the true love's kiss comes into play," Jack explained, and then fell back amongst his pillows.

"But that's easy, just tell me who she is and we can find her and you can be unburdened from this curse!" Gibbs exclaimed, and Jack shook his head.

"Go away, Mr. Gibbs, and let me die in peace,"

"But Jack…"

"I said go!" Jack snapped, and Gibbs stood up.

"Fine. Mind if I borrow that compass of yours for a bit?"

"Not at all," Jack said, unhooking the compass and handing it to him, but at the last moment stopped and asked with furrowed brows, "Why?"

"To try and get some kind of heading, we're just floating in the sea right now," Gibbs said practically, and Jack nodded before handing the compass over.

Gibbs hurried to the deck and closed his eyes, thinking, 'What I want most in this world is to find the girl Jack loves, his true love, so she can save him'

He opened the compass and the arrow spun around for a while and then pointed in a definitive direction. Gibbs began shouting orders to head in that direction and he prayed that they would reach the girl in time. And he also hoped that she wasn't Blackbeard's daughter.

It took a week to reach land, and Gibbs pulled out the compass again to figure out which direction to take once they were on land. Jack wasn't even able to get out of bed on his own, so Gibbs left a few of the crew behind to watch the ship and Jack. Gibbs took a few of the men onshore and he used the compass as a guide, and eventually he reached a relatively large house just on the outskirts of the town they had started in.

"Here goes nothing," Gibbs muttered and knocked at the door. He kept wondering who the woman was going to be and then the door flew open.

Gibbs' mouth dropped open in shock, along with the rest of the crew.

"Gibbs?" The woman said in confusion, and then he half-smiled, saying,

"Hello Elizabeth,"

She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug. "It's been forever, hasn't it?"

"Close," He said, drawing back to look at her. He was more than a little surprised to see her eyes red-rimmed, her hair uncombed and her appearance rather ragged. "Actually I should have said hello Your Highness," Gibbs corrected himself, remembering she was the Pirate King of the Brethren Court.

"Elizabeth will do, Gibbs," She said gently, and then said hello to the rest of the crew. "But…where's Jack?"

"That's a long story," Gibbs said, and Elizabeth invited them in. "Actually, we don't have much time. Will you come with us to the Pearl? I'll explain on the way," Gibbs added anxiously, and Elizabeth nodded, grabbed her coat and pulling the door shut behind her.

Gibbs filled her in in the curse, and how Jack's compass had led them to her. "Me? Captain Jack Sparrow's true love? That's ridiculous," Elizabeth said, stopping in her tracks.

"No it's not," Gibbs insisted. "At least give it a try. If it doesn't work, Jack's going to die. It's just a kiss,"

"I doubt Jack will see it that way," Elizabeth muttered, but kept walking. Eventually they reached the ship and climbed aboard. Gibbs took Elizabeth down to Jack's room, and they heard him coughing even as they descended down the steps.

"Jack? You have a visitor," Gibbs said, and Jack said hoarsely,

"I swear, Mr. Gibbs, if it's bloody Will coming to collect me, tell him to…"

"Hello Jack," Elizabeth said quietly, stepping in the room.

He stared at her for a long moment and then said, "Happy news travels fast,"

"You dying is not happy news!" She snapped, and then took a deep breath. "And I didn't know until a few moments ago when Gibbs told me,"

"Thanks a lot," Jack said sourly, looking at Gibbs.

"I used that compass of yours. The thing I want most in the world is for you to recover, and therefore I wanted to find your true love. Here she is,"

"That's ridiculous," Jack sputtered, and Elizabeth sighed.

"I told him that, Jack,"

"It's just a kiss!" Gibbs exclaimed, and Jack looked evenly at Elizabeth while he said,

"Not with her it's not,"

He was shocked to see tears cloud her eyes as she bowed her head. Jack struggled to sit up and she immediately stepped to his side, helping him. "What would dear Captain Turner say?" Jack mocked, and Elizabeth furiously blinked back tears.

"I don't care. All I care about is getting you better. Will you at least let me try?" Elizabeth begged, sitting down next to him and taking her hands.

"Or what? You'll pull out your authority as Pirate King?" Jack snapped, and Elizabeth drew herself tall.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

They had a small staring contest for a long moment and then Elizabeth shook her head. "I guess I'll just be going, then,"

"Wait," Jack said suddenly, gripping her hands tightly. She looked at him and he just stared at her for a long moment, seeing the dark circles under her eyes and her grief-stricken eyes. She'd had a hard life since they'd last seen each other, 13 years before. Elizabeth could read the question 'why?' in his eyes.

"The last time I kissed you, I doomed you. This time, I'd like to save you," She whispered, gently touching his cheek.

"Lizzie…" He breathed, and she said quietly,

"I've hated myself ever since, Jack. I lied to you, I was sorry,"

"I know, love," He murmured, and she realized their faces were only inches apart. In a second she closed the distance and pressed her lips against his, their eyes closing. After a few moments, the color came back to Jack's face and he tunneled his fingers through Elizabeth's hair, pulling her closer. She gripped the front of his shirt tightly until they broke the kiss for lack of oxygen.

"Jack," She gasped, seeing the difference in his appearance. Jack felt his strength returning and he looked at Elizabeth with a smile on his face, leaning in and kissing her again.

"Thank you, love," He murmured, and then stood up, about to do a happy dance or something. He was going to live after all.

"I'll alert the rest of the crew, it's a night to celebrate!" Gibbs cried out, scrambling out to head onshore to get as much rum as possible.

When he was gone, Jack turned to Elizabeth and saw her still sitting, clearly conflicted and unhappy. "I'm sorry, Lizzie, I know you're a married woman," He started to say, and Elizabeth shook her head.

"That's where you're wrong, Jack. I'm not a married woman,"

"But the ceremony Barbossa performed…the child you had with Will," Jack was confused. Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears and she said,

"I'm not a mother either, Jack, not anymore,"

"Oh. Well, this story sounds like it needs some rum to go along with it," Jack said, grabbing a bottle and passing it to Elizabeth. He sat next to her and added, "I'm listening, love,"

She didn't even look at him while she told the story of how her son had drowned in the sea on his first sailing experience, and he elected to stay on his father's ship. "So then there were grandfather, father and son, all on the same ship, all of them dead," Elizabeth said bitterly, and Jack heaved a sigh, reaching over and squeezing her hands. "And I'm no longer married because Will 'set me free'. I was all alone, without my son and my husband, and I was miserable. He granted me a divorce, which disgraced me in everyone's eyes even further. So I moved away from Port Royal, and turned to rum as the only source of comfort I had,"

"Ah Lizzie," Jack said, shaking his head. He set the bottle aside and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm alone and I can't handle it, I'm such a pathetic…"

"No you are not, on both counts," Jack said firmly, drawing her back. "You are not alone and you are not pathetic,"

"I appreciate that, Jack, but…"

"No. You'll come sailing with me, we'll travel the world together, plundering and treasure hunting," Jack offered, and Elizabeth looked at him hopefully.

"Are you serious, Jack?"

"Absolutely. It would be an honor to have the Pirate King herself on board," Jack said, and she reached up and kissed him softly.

"Thank you, Jack," She looked at him for a long time and then admitted, "I have a confession to make,"

"Which is?"

"I do love you, Captain Jack Sparrow," She whispered, and then got up, planning to walk out and find somewhere to let the misery have her for a while. Jack caught her hand, saying,

"Not so fast, Your Highness," He stood up, still holding her hand. "I love you too, Pirate King Elizabeth Swann,"

She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Just imagine, Sparrow and Swann, pirating all over the world,"

"We'll be feared by everyone," Jack envisioned, and Elizabeth laughed. "With enough time to fool around of course," He added slyly, his hands sliding downward. Elizabeth just shook her head and said,

"Maybe one day you'll make an honest woman out of me,"

"You never know. Miracles do happen," Jack said simply, kissing her. "So, what say you, Your Highness? Shall we go celebrate?" He offered her his arm, and she nodded, taking it.

"Yes we shall. But I do have one question,"

"What is it, darling?"

"Where am I to sleep tonight? I am not sharing a hammock with Gibbs," Elizabeth said as they stepped onto the deck. A cheer rose up from the crowd at seeing Jack up in his feet and in good spirits. Jack grinned and grabbed Elizabeth, spinning her into his arms and dipping her.

"In my bed," He growled, kissing her firmly as the crew began to whoop and wolf-whistle at them.

"Who would've thought," Elizabeth said thoughtfully as the celebration began.

"Thought what, love?"

"That true love's kiss would have any place in Captain Jack Sparrow's world,"

"Well, when it comes to you, darling, you always have a place in my world: standing right next to me," He said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her gently as the sun began to sink below the horizon.

**The end of my first Pirates of the Caribbean one-shot! I do hope I did the characters justice as I've only seen all the movies once, though I plan to watch them quite a few more times. I am now convinced that Jack and Elizabeth belong together. Don't get me wrong, I love Will, but Jack and Elizabeth are perfect for each other! But I digress. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you liked my first PotC story!**


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